Dark Paradise
by Dancing star 890
Summary: In 1482, her family made a disastrous mistake that resulted in her being hid for eighteen years from the a family of dangerous immortals. But when a simple walk in the forest threatened to break everything her carer had worked so hard to build for her, would history be repeating or rewriting itself?
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue: 1482**

Everyone was alight with laughter. Wine filled their goblets, food their stomachs, and music their ears. But Lady Amelia had eyes for only one as she sat in her designated chair beside her husband, and they were for the child that slumbered in her arms whose hair was as black as the midnight sky and whose eyes, when they were open, were as blue as the afternoon sky. She was the perfect combination of both Lady Amelia, with her blue eyes, and Lord Henry, with his coal black hair. And even though he had wished for a son, he was in love with their daughter as much as she was herself.

Ellevira, was what they had named her. Elle, after her mother, and Vira after his. Again, another combination. She was a precious gift, one neither of them wanted to ever let go.

Lady Amelia glanced at her husband. "I think I shall take her to bed now for her eyes no longer remain open and she fed some time ago. I will return soon after." She breathed and he nodded, placing a hand on her that covered their daughters small form while she slept. "Hurry back." He replied and she nodded with a small smile, sending another one to their companions before she excused herself from the table, her daughter sleeping soundly still as she walked out of the dining hall and down the corridors that would eventually lead to the nursery.

It was a beautifully decorated room; fit for a princess, let alone the firstborn child to one of the most powerful lords in the lands that were around them. Lady Amelia glanced at her daughter once again as she entered the room, the nurse that remained in that room every single of her waking minutes looking up from her work. She curtsied. "Lady Amelia. Is the Lady Ellevira taking her leave off to the land of dreams?" She greeted warmly.

The older woman nodded with a small smile. "She is indeed, and see to it she remains that way until her next feed. I do, after all, have to attend to my duties as you do yours. Good night, Helena."

The blue eyed noble made her way back down the corridors towards the dining hall, unaware of the dark shadows following her as she did, a gentle hum echoing in her throat as she rounded the corners from whence she had came. It was a lullaby she had thought up for her daughter, a gentle tune that would no doubt be the telling of the gentle girl that would soon come as she grew older and became a beautiful young lady and a loving older sister to the siblings that her parents would make sure followed her in due time.

But that time would never come.

A sharp gust of wind sent her into the stone wall, her eyesight blurring as she did so. Blood trickled down her forehead, a wicked smile and dark brown eyes accompanying it as the owner of both crouched down beside her. "Oh darling, if I wasn't ordered to murder you, this would be so much more enjoyable." He sighed before snatching her up towards him, teeth sinking into her throat as though her skin was nothing but melted butter, easily pliable.

A scream echoed down the corridors, many others following in unison as though it was a rehearsed theatrical script. Helena, the Nanny, shook in the nursery as she heard them, the sound of heavy boots echoing down the hallway towards the room where she and her charge resided. She could do two things; let them both die, which certainly wasn't about to happen, or she could use that wooden weapon her employers had given her to use if an intruder ever tried to take their daughter.

The latter option seemed to be much more appealing than dying, if she was being quite honest with herself.

As soon as the man with blue eyes and long dark blonde hair burst into the room, she struck, slamming the pointed wooden pole into his chest. He gave a wheezing cough at first, then a vicious snarl ripped from his mouth as his skin began to grey and dark coloured veins appeared on his handsome, yet evil face. Who would come to harm a child? A monster, that was who.

Helena gathered the bawling infant up into her arms, pulling the torch on the wall which opened up the secret passage which she had been told to use in case of an attack. She scurried down it, hearing more screams echoing through the once magnificent home. She could also hear other demons approaching and rushed down it even faster, the tunnel plunging into darkness as the wall behind her slid shut, the torches casting just enough light so she wouldn't trip carrying the precious bundle in her arms. There was a bag at the end of the corridor if a thief hadn't looted it, and it contained much needed provisions for the both of them, more importantly Ellevira, to survive in the years to come, and disappear if needed.

The infant began to wail as the cold air reached her once more. Helena glanced down and then around frantically, rushing towards the bag that was still there and she slung it over her shoulders, Ellevira clutched to her chest. The baby searched around for food, and Helena realised with a growing dread that she was hungry once more. It couldn't have came at a worse time either. She couldn't feed her herself, for she wasn't a wet nurse, and the only wet nurse of the castle had surely been slain now.

Finding a horse in the stables, she secured Ellevira to her with the help of a cloth sling, and once she was confident enough it was secure, she rode off into the dark night.

 **MvM**

Helena was exhausted; she'd rode all throughout the night, Ellevira having cried herself to sleep, hungry and exhausted herself. She walked into the local inn, setting eyes upon what looked like an expectant mother herself. She had gone to three such places beforehand, and no such look. They had either cast her out thinking she a spoilt maiden, and yet, this one didn't seem to be that kind of place, or so she hoped.

The other woman looked up as Helena came to her knees beside her. "My sister went during the night," she lied smoothly, putting a quiver in her lips for effect. She could see the other woman softening in an instant. "Please, I do not wish her child to join her." She added, relief flooding her as the woman gave a tenderly gentle smile and nodded, taking her hand and leading her into the next room.

Helena watched her charge, or as she supposed newly adopted child, drink greedily, hands reaching towards the gracious woman. Relief flooded her inside as she watched Ellevira feed with a voracious hunger. She didn't know what would have became of the young infant had they not of found this woman. An idea came to her head and she glanced back at the woman. "How far gone are you?" She asked quietly.

The woman smiled slightly, glancing down at her own swollen stomach. "I have a moon left, ma'am." She replied and Helena nodded thoughtfully. "If I were to offer you employment as her nurse, would you accept? She needs nourishment, something I cannot provide, something I do not know how to provide. I need assistance caring for her, and you would be paid handsomely for helping me, and in turn I could aid in the delivery of your own child." She offered.

Helena watched as the woman thought about it for a moment before nodding slowly. "I would accept your offer then. What is this fair child's name?" She answered and Helena, thinking quick, replied -"Elle," she muttered. "Elle after my sister," she added for effect.

The woman nodded with a small smile. "Well, if I'm going to help you care for the little one, you should know mine. I'm Marie."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Eighteen years later**

Twirling around the stone floor, Elle couldn't do anything but laugh breezily, eyes shining delightfully. This was what she had longed for all day; dancing. Her mother had made sure she learn such things amongst others, saying a young lady needed to know such if she wanted to find herself a suitable husband. Her beauty would not always aid her in making men fall at her feet, despite the fact it had worked so far.

Elle smiled widely as she took a step back, twirling once more for good measure. "I would never tire of this," she stated dreamily and her mother laughed too, her slight grey hairs shining in the lanterns light. "And not I either. And now you must sleep. Every beautiful lady needs her sleep if she is to become more beautiful as the nights pass and the days come by in an endless stream of laughter and fun." She stated back.

A stubborn smile came to the teenagers face before she sighed softly. "Will you tell me the tale of the lady and the monsters?" She asked hopefully and she watched as her mother chuckled with a small smile, although this time it seemed sad. "Are you sure you aren't close to tiring of such tales? A young woman your age would have long ago, my child."

The black haired Elle shook her head with a sweet smile. "It brings me comfort in knowing that there is some good in this cruel world we reside in," she replied in a soft whisper and to her delight, her mother nodded with a small smile. "Ready yourself for bed then, and I shall be through soon with your evening brew. Can't have our own monsters preying upon our minds, can we now?" She replied secretly, waiting until Elle had wandered off into the next room to pour a small vial of a clear liquid into her evening brew.

Elle shuffled under the thin covers, grateful for the small warming stove in her room which kept the small cottage warm during the colder months, such as now. A thick blanket of white covered the mud forest floor, the undergrowth frozen beneath it in time until the sun shone its good face down upon it and melted it all away for life to begin up once more.

She waited patiently, playing with her long black tresses absentmindedly. They were the strangest colour, as though they had been specifically designed for the night sky above them all. And then there was her eyes, the colour of the day sky during any season. It was as though she was of two opposites, and yet a combination of both in the most delightful of ways.

Her mother ambled in a few minutes later, a steaming cup of brew clutched in her aging hands. She passed it to Elle before taking her place on the small bed beside her, a feat itself. Elle huddled up to her before taking a sip of the always sweet but still lightly bitter brew that she had become accustomed to over the years of her short life. Blue eyes glanced up. "Well?"

The older woman seemed to recover from whatever thoughts she had been engrossed in with a breathy sigh. "Well, as you know, once upon a time, there was a large mansion on the hills. It was home to a King, a Queen, and their beloved daughter. The king had longed for a son, but when he laid his eyes on his firstborn, his daughter, his beautiful daughter, he felt his ice heart melt as her crystal blue eyes brought him to his knees. They were the same his wife had, a wife he loved more than anyone else."

"And she loved him, didn't she?" Elle added and her mother chuckled, albeit a little sadly. "Oh, she did so. They longed to add to their family, to give their daughter, whom they both loved very much, siblings who they knew her kind heart would come to love also as much as they loved her. They were happy, and then an untold evil came to the castle. He demanded they tell him where his children where hidden, children the King and his Queen had met and knew the location of them. Frightened, and fearing for the safety of his new child, the King told the man where to find them, aided him, not realising his ultimate mistake."

Elle listened with apt attention, sipping her brew as she listened to her mother speak. "When the daughter was just a month old, the children of the demon man came to the castle. They sought revenge, and revenge they found. They murdered the King and the nobles that had came to celebrate his daughters birth, and they murdered the Queen as she came back from laying her daughter down in her bed, an angel watching over her as she slept."

Her mother glanced at her, seeing the now empty tea cup falling slack as her adopted daughters eyes drooped. She took it gently, curling her arms around her with a soft sigh, pouring all her warmth into her. "And as the King and Queen fell with their noble knights, the angel heard their cries and looked at the princess, deciding to spirit her away from the monsters and hide her to keep her safe. She staked the demon, giving her and the princess enough time to hide and run from the demons siblings which she knew would soon come to aid their fallen brother."

"And did they?" Elle whispered through the haze of sleep, forgetting she knew the ending to such an inspiring tale. Her mother hummed a small smile, her own blue eyes sad. "They did, but the angel and princess were gone into the night. They travelled far and wide, stopping at three places along the way. The angel knew she had to find somewhere to feed the princess for she knew she could not herself, but on the fourth place she stopped, she found a kind soul who agreed to help. That kind soul nurtured the princess, with the help of the angel, into a healthy young child, and when the kind soul passed due to her own illness along with her sickly child, the world lost two bright lights."

Elle hummed with a small smile. "Like Marie and Jacob," she whispered, thinking of the woman she hardly remembered but knew had played a great part in raising her. Her mother nodded. "Like Marie and Jacob, my sweet girl."

"Whatever happened to the princess and the angel though? You never tell me." She murmured and her mother smiled slightly. "Who knows what became of them? Perhaps they're living in their own little cottage like us, hiding from the world in their own delight while the demons lurk outside their windows and doors, trying with all their might to get in and seek their final revenge? Go to sleep, my dear Elle, and then we can embrace the next day with open arms." She finished, glancing down with a small smile to find the eighteen year old already fast asleep.

 **MvM**

Klaus Mikaelson didn't do bored. He did slaughter, he did beautiful women and fine art, but he did not do bored. He ambled through the forest close to his home, completely and utterly bored. This was not his idea of fun in the slightest. Kol, having been a little too out of control after the Kilgrant slaughter in 1482, had to be put back in his coffin, much to his anger once the dagger pierced his chest. That had indeed been a fun year, although it had started worse than the previous one. Mikael had descended upon them all with the aid of those once considered allies, and he could still feel the sharpness of the wooden stake that the nanny of the said past allies child had plunged into his chest. Clever little witch, she was, fleeing with the last object of his revenge. Also, being a witch right under her employers noses was a clever ruse, one he disliked as much as being staked by her.

He kicked at the dirt with his leather boots, sending several stone shards into trees like an explosion had happened. The said trees groaned and creaked with the impact of such foreign objects. Sure, what would a little destruction do other than ruffle his older brothers perfectly preened feathers? Oh, how he enjoyed winding Elijah up.

Something smelling delicious caught his attention and he paused, head turning in the direction of it. It was a smell so delicious, a smell so mouth-watering that he could feel his vampire features coming out without much resistance. He blinked them back, changing direction and sauntering off in the direction of that delicious aroma. What was another dead corpse on their back door, after all?

The source was nothing more than a young woman whom was no doubt just of age. She was beautiful, he would give her that. Raven curls of hair reached her waist, their unruly tresses darker than the night sky when it appeared as it would in a matter of hours. Her skin was fair, pale and extremely flawless. It was so clear he could see her pulse jutting out, as though it was greeting him in a mocking sort of fashion. Swallowing hard and blinking, he willed his vampire features back into their shadows.

And just in time, for the young woman looked up from whatever she had been doing -he guessed sketching with charcoal- and looked right at him. She seemed to be startled. "Were you watching me?" She accused.

With the smoothness that even his _dead mother_ could be proud of, he walked forward with his hands behind his back, a daring smirk on his lips. "Perhaps I was." He commented airily with a certain grace that even his uptight older brother could have also been proud of. "There has been attacks from monsters in these parts of the woods, didn't you know? What would a monster do if it came upon you, beautiful as you are and also defenceless as you are?"

Her cheeks flushed from the underlying compliment, thus adding to the torture of being around such sweet smelling blood. "I would ask such monster to leave me be so I could get on with producing a drawing of my mothers favourite lilies, such things you are now blocking." She commented back, eyes trying the search around him. Klaus glanced behind him, seeing such plants behind him. He moved to the side with a slight mocking smirk. "Apologies, love. I didn't realise you were drawing the floristry." He commented.

A soft sigh left her full lips. He found himself staring at them, his attention going back to her face as she spoke once more. "Well I happen to be doing just that, and you, whoever you are, happens to be ruining my concentration. Tis her birthday tomorrow and I want to give her something I knew she'll adore, as I just don't have the heart to pull such beautiful flowers from the ground, swiftly ending their life."

He smirked. "Life goes on, love. There appears to be numerous other patches in these parts; why not just take a few to spare the rest?" He answered and it seemed to amuse her for she too laughed sweetly, the sound echoing strangely fondly in his advanced hearing ears. "And with those said monsters on the loose? I don't quite fancy my chances, nor am I quite brave enough to venture out and get them myself. I quite like living, thank you, whoever you are."

"I am the Lord Niklaus." He replied, enjoying watching as she paled. She had just spoken with disrespect to a lord of all people. He waved a hand as she moved to stand. "I would not bother. Resume your drawings, but I would much appreciate it if I could be privy to know your name also." He baited her and she took it like a moth to a wicked light. "Elle," she answered softly.

He raised a brow. "No Ellevira around these parts, love? I heard it was a popular name around here."

Elle shook her head with a small yet sad smile. "No. There was an Ellevira years ago when I was a child, but she died as an infant. My mother helped her mother, and her mother swiftly passed along with her. I was a mere child myself then. My mother named me after her friends deceased child in memory of her." She confessed.

Niklaus raised his brow again as he took in this information. So the hidden child was dead, as was that witch of a nursery maid who had stolen her into the night. All was good again then. A sharp witted grin passed along his face as he took a seat beside her on the gnarled roots of the ancient tree. "So, let me see this fabled drawing of yours," he demanded with a suffering sigh, willing himself not to end her presence and sink his teeth into her neck so to taste that sweet smelling blood.

Her blue eyes flickered to his, extending it with a small smile. It was a beautiful and accurate sketch of the floristry in front of them both, and he trailed a finger down one side of the petals. "Give it a little more shading, and then darken the stem a little." He corrected.

Surprise mirrored her face to his. "You draw too," she mused, not bothering to change it into a question. He nodded with a faint smirk. "Passes the times, shall we put it? But yes, art is one of my many passions. Is it yours, or just an aimless hobby to pass your own time? Does your betrothed not resent it?"

Elle laughed softly. "You think me betrothed? I am not, and I do not wish to be either. I love my mother, and that is all I shall ever need in life -my mother. Father abandoned her when she was pregnant with myself. Said he did not wish to be burdened with a bastard child. Who would she turn to should I leave her for some man?" She whispered softly, eyes shining at the last part as the feeling of loneliness and despair filled her inside. Was it grief?

He nodded. "Then you and I are alike. My father did not wish for me either, and my mother turned her back on me when I needed her the most." He said and her blue eyes went to him once more. "Then you and I are alike." She echoed in a muter that, if not for his enhanced hearing, he would not of heard.

A small smile, a genuine one, appeared on his face. No one had been alike him like this strange mortal woman since 1002, France. His feature hardened at that and he pushed it from his mind before she could notice. She didn't, thankfully. Better for her not to ask questions she wouldn't like the answer to, lest her run screaming about strange creatures with devilish eyes. He had grown to like it here in this armpit of civilisation, even more now he had found another kindred spirit. God forbid his darling sister would find out after he had just murdered her own lover not a month prior.

Elle glanced at the darkening skies with a sigh. "I must return or my mother will wonder where I am." She mused, taking the hand he offered to help her to her feet with a grateful smile. She curtsied once. "It was lovely to meet you, Lord Niklaus." She continued softly, and he nodded, raising her hand that he still held to his mouth, brushing his lips over her knuckles. "Likewise, Elle. Take care, oh, and do beware of the monsters that lurk in the shadows of the trees around us."

She nodded with a small smile, turning on her heel and taking off at a run into the thicket of trees, and when she glanced back to look at him, he was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Secret rendezvouses**

Her breath fogged in the cold air as she hummed a tune which had been in her mind for as long as she remembered. It was a sweet sounding melody, one her mother often hummed while doing her housework. It was a beautiful song, and she often wondered where her mother had heard it. She knew it had been before she was born for she certainly hadn't heard it during her years of life.

Elle sighed, her breath fogging once more. She didn't even know why she had returned here. It was as though some little voice in the back of her mind had told her to come back here. It wasn't as though Lord Niklaus was going to be here, although some part of her deep down wished him to be here. It was nice to have found, to have discovered someone who understood, deep down that was, how she felt.

But something seemed strange about him. It was as though darkness and danger surrounded him, and to her displeasure, she found herself drawn to him like a moth would to a flame. It was strange, but intoxicating and it wrapped its toxic tendrils around her pure heart, twisting and corrupting her with each second she allowed her mind to drift to him.

"Elle, what a pleasant surprise."

She spun around, the slight snow which still blanketed the mossy earth swirling around her feet as she faced the owner of the voice which had greeted her. A small smile pulled at her mouth. "Lord Niklaus." She breathed and he offered that lopsided smirk which was drawing her to him to start off. It made her body feel strange things, emotions and reactions she had neither experienced either of before. He was dangerous, and she knew it all too well. What nobleman wasn't dangerous?

"One would think you wished to see me again." He commented breezily and she smiled slightly, her raven black hair falling in front of her face with the slight breeze as she leaned back against the tree, her woollen shawl pulled tight around her shoulders. "Perhaps I did. I enjoy talking to someone who knows how I feel. My mother does most of the time, but not on the experience both you and I are joined by." She confessed with a soft sigh.

He chuckled. "Perhaps I do also. Has been what feels like centuries since I have come across someone such as you." He added with a sly smile, knowing she wouldn't understand the underlying meaning to his last few words. Elle laughed softly. "No, I suppose not. Do your family not wonder where you have been going?" She asked gently, brushing some fallen snow off of her shoulders. It created a stark contrast when it landed in her blacker than black tresses; black upon white, complete opposites.

Klaus hummed distantly, coming to lean against the tree beside her. He glanced down at her for she was quite petite for a young woman of her age. "They do not take notice of my coming or going for I do it as often as the weather changes. I do not conform to their standards, and they not mine. We do not see eye to eye.." He stated.

Elle smiled slightly. "I love my mother for she is the only family I have ever known, what with my father abandoning us both before I even came into this world, but we do not always see eye to eye. She wishes for me to find a nice man and live the life she wished she too could have had, that she could have given me siblings of my own, but I do not wish for her dream."

Blue eyes glanced down at her. "And just what do you wish for, sweet Elle?"

Her cheeks flushed slightly. "I wish to live my life how I want to live my life -is that so wrong? I want a love that will last forever, even after I'm long gone. I want to be happy, happier than I am, if that were ever possible. I do not think happiness can be found as easily as the tales predict it to be, do you?" She answered softly.

Klaus hummed again in contemplation of her question. "Happiness cannot be bought. The thought of it can, something I've learned over the time I've been alive upon this earth. I have searched for such, and have not found such. Perhaps happiness, completeness comes to those who truly long and desire it. Other people crave power -they lust after it like a moth to a bright flickering flame. Would you lust after power should it present itself to you?" He asked back and she smiled slightly.

"Power corrupts those who hold it in their hands as easily as you do life. Power is not something I am sure I would ever seek out. I do not wish to be all powerful and all knowing, I just wish for a purpose in life. Is that wrong to wish for, Lord Niklaus?"

He shook his head. "Everyone desires different pleasures. Some eternal, some power, so euphoric in ways that cannot be discussed in a forest. Everyone has their choices, their prerogatives. I desire power, but not the kind that would corrupt another. I also desire happiness, completion, such as you. Are we different if I desire a thirst for knowledge and power?"

Elle paused for a moment before she shook her head, flakes of snow floating down as she dislodged them from their seating place in her long black tendrils. "No," she confessed quietly, eyes shining in the pale winter sunlight. "It doesn't make us different. You claim it is not the kind of power to corrupt a man, but is that not what all power does? Once you have a taste, a glance, a touch of such advantages, does it not make you thirst for more? Thirsting for knowledge is a purer thirst of power, Lord Niklaus. Everyone thirst for knowledge -I do also. I thirst for knowledge about who else I came from, who my father was, who my grandparents were, but such knowledge continues to elude me as my mother refuses to speak on such people, claiming they should be left in the past and that is where they shall remain. I love her, so I respect her wishes as she respects mine."

He regarded her with interest for a moment. "Perhaps. Mortal men are so passionate to control others of their kind, are they not?"

Elle frowned. "Mortal men? You speak as though you are not one of them." She placed a hand over his chest, feeling a dull, slow thump in return. "I can feel your heartbeat, so I feel confidant in proclaiming you a mortal man." She whispered, going to remove her hand but he placed his own over it, holding it there with a sly smirk. "You are quite honest for one who I met the evening before last." He stated.

A sweet laugh bubbled through her pink lips. "My mother says its one of my better qualities. Better to be honest that a scoundrel, she always told me as a child. Lies get one nowhere, only into a hole deeper than the one they started digging as they told the first falsehood. I take her teachings to heart, Lord Niklaus." She stated cheerily.

He smirked, taking hold of her elbow and suddenly pulling her forward so she was flush against him. A sharp gasp hissed through her teeth as the action surprised her. She could feel his heartbeat increasing ever so slightly, but not by much. It seemed slower than a normal mans, or even a woman's for that matter. Was it because he was standing still and he was calm -he seemed calm enough. It was strange, but she didn't linger on the thought anymore as his fingers stroked the throbbing pulse on her wrist. It throbbed in time with his caresses.

"What are you doing?" She whispered and he gave her that knee buckling smirk. "I shall see you tomorrow, Elle, will I not? Same time as now, same place as now, and I will look forward to our next meeting. Until next time, fair Elle." He whispered back, brushing his mouth over her knuckles before he pressed a faint kiss to her forehead, vanishing from sight when she closed her eyes.

 **MvM**

In an instant, he regretted returning so soon. "And where just have you been, Nik?" The voice of his dear, sweet sister Rebekah called from the parlour. He rolled his blue eyes, irritated. Trust her to be the one to open the whole issue of where he had been going.

He rounded the corner, kicking the now bloodless corpse of one of their maids in a disgusted manner. Again, she was feeding recklessly in an attempt to punish him for killing her latest suitor. It only ever backfired on her when she found herself in her coffin once more with a dagger in her chest.

"I wasn't aware my coming and goings were your concern, Rebekah," he commented breezily and she rolled her eyes bitterly. "And I certainly wasn't aware that who I chose to love where yours, and yet you make them so. So, where have you been going, Nik?" She replied easily and he smirked. "I, perhaps, have found a reason to remain in this pathetic excuse of a town a little while longer, and not because the people are delicious." He revealed.

She hummed. "The people are in fact delicious here," she stated simply and he smirked even wider. "That they are, sister, that they are indeed."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Longing**

Her mother watched her from across the room with a bemused look in her eyes, watching the dreamy look in her daughter eyes. "And what has you so happy this fine morning?" She stated, setting a cup of brew across from her daughter.

Elle smiled slightly. "Nothing. I long for the snow to melt, to bear witness to the first seedlings of this years flowers. I'm heading out later to see if I can see such life, and I truly hope I do for it would be a shame to go out with high hopes only to have them fall around me like a house of straw." She confessed and her mother chuckled, smoothing a hand over her hair before pressing a kiss to her forehead. "My sweet child. You see the innocence and good in things I most certainly haven't for years."

This made the smile on Elle's face expand. "That is because I love the simplest things about the cruel world we live in and I look for redemption anywhere I can find it. There has to be some good in this dark earth." She replied softly.

Her mother smiled slightly. "There is good in you. There's purity, innocence, selflessness. I see everything good in you, and it increases each morn and night you wake and slumber once more. You are the definition of pure innocence, my sweet girl." She commented quietly.

No more was said than that, and Elle finished her steaming brew eagerly, ignoring the slight bitter taste which seemed to have increased. It didn't bother her though, and she swallowed it without hesitation before all but running out of her cottage door. Snow swirled around to greet her as though it were a slow, methodically planned dance. She darted through the flurries of white effortlessly.

Lo and behold, her eyes fell upon the reason for her haste in an instant. She hurried through the powdery cold follicles, cold hands appearing on her shoulders to steady her as she stumbled. "Easy there, love, wouldn't want you to injure yourself, would we?"

Elle smiled slightly. "No, we certainly would not." She replied softly. "How has your morning been, Lord Niklaus?" She asked smoothly, eyes shining despite the cold flakes that fell around them. He held out an arm, one that after a few moments she accepted. Strange. She walked alongside him, her woollen shawl pulled tight around her thin shoulders.

"Tell me more of this quaint little town you live in." He stated suddenly and she smiled slightly. "You wish to know of a town in which you live in also? I am afraid that there is not much to tell unless you are the kind of man interested in farmland and reports of a sweating sickness that is approaching from the east? And from our lengthy talks, you do not seem like that type of man." She joked.

Klaus smirked. "No, I am not. So, tell me more about yourself? Likes, dislikes, hobbies, interests."

Elle sighed softly, her breath fogging in the cool winters air. "I enjoy art, as you well know, having once disrupted me during such an occurrence. I enjoy the cold compared to the warmth, and I prefer rain to sunshine. I long for a life where I do not conform to the rules society dictates for me, for people like me. I wish to have no boundaries to what I can accomplish, and I think you know that too." She confessed quietly, glancing up at him.

He dipped his head once in a slow nod. "I know that, yes." He acknowledged and she smiled slightly. "And I know you also long to not conform to the rules your life dictates you must conform to. Life has been cruel to you, hasn't it?" She asked quietly and he raised a brow, willing himself not to look  
surprised at her accurate assumption of his life. "How could you possibly know such things?" He inquired.

A soft sigh echoed from her cold lips. "You flinch as though I have wounded you each time I mention my beloved mother, and when I spoke of how my father abandoned us both, you claimed us to be kindred spirits. Anyone who doesn't have the love of at least one of their parents had been destined to have a cruel life. If I did not have my mother, I do not know how I would brave each day." She confessed herself.

Klaus smiled a small, yet perfectly genuine smile. "You would because you are sweet and kind, and you see the world with an innocence I have not laid eyes upon for what feels like centuries to a man like me." He replied and she laughed softly. "How ironic would it be if I told your that my mother told me the exact same thing this morning before I set out to meet you?" She said through sweet laughs.

That made he too laugh. "Then perhaps not all mothers are as evil as I think them to be. Come, there is something I wish to show you."

Snow crunched beneath their feet as she followed him deeper into the forest. She had never ventured this far into the cold depths of her woody home, and it unnerved her. But she followed, being as brave as her mother had taught her to be. Besides, he could always keep her safe from whatever demons were lurking in those dark depths.

He seemed to slow after around half an hour of walking, and she gazed at the waterfall that they had came to a stop beside. Elle let go of his arm and took a few steps forward. "This is beautiful," she murmured. Her head turned and she looked at him. "How come I have never laid eyes upon this place, and I have lived here longer than you have resided here?" She questioned, looking back in front of her with awestruck eyes. "It's beautiful," she repeated in her usual quiet whisper.

His hand fell to her lower back. "I came across it on one of my many walks, and it reminded me of you." He confessed and Elle laughed sweetly. "Is it because the water if pure?" She jested and he laughed too. "Perhaps, perhaps not. You claimed you wished for peace, and none venture this far. This is the perfect sort of peace and quiet, such I imagine you long for."

Elle smiled slightly, crouching down and dipping her fingers into the frothing water. She stood and turned back to him. "How could I thank you for such a gift?" She asked softly as he walked forward, taking a seat on a gnarled tree root that was not yet covered in powdery snow. She stood and took a seat next to him. "I could think of a few things you could do to thank me." He replied slyly.

Her brows furrowed before her eyes widened, and yet, as she went to tell him that what he was asking was something she simply couldn't do, he placed his thumb over her lips and shook his head with a slight smirk. "Not like that, at least not yet if I intend to remain around you," he murmured more to himself than to her, and before she could attempt to utter a response once more, he leaned forward and placed his mouth over hers.

This was a strange yet intoxicating encounter to her, and her first of any whatsoever. He seemed so sure as he moved against her, her hands frozen by her sides as she remained unsure of what to do. Her life had been sheltered, and she knew nothing of what not to do and what to do. Reacting on her innermost instincts, she let her hands crawl up and entwine themselves in his long, dark blonde hair. He groaned low in her mouth, startling her. Was he in pain of some sort?

Elle pulled back with wide eyes. "I know not what to do," she confessed in a breathless whisper and he smirked, a finger lazily brushing down her flushed cheek. "And perhaps that is what I enjoy about you the most -your innocence, your lack of knowledge about the evils that lurk in the shadows. Perhaps that is what draws me to you, makes me long for you." He replied easily, her eyes wide and unguarded.

Her eyes shone with emotion and he rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip. "And perhaps I may have just discovered my reason for staying in this town."

* * *

 **Authors note:** For your perspective, it does look as though its going a wee bit fast for some of your liking, but you have to remember that this was the 16th century, even if it was just the beginning of it. Their "dating routines" as one might call it are mighty different to those that are deemed acceptable today. It will slow down in modern times, as I'm setting up for some major witchy voodoo here ;)

 **-Clare**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Voices**

Her mother cast a strange look over her as Elle rushed through the cottage doors, her cheeks rosy from the cold. The older woman laughed softly. "And what has you in such a rush this fine evening? I do hope it would be because you missed me." She jested.

Elle laughed softly in return. "Perhaps I did and perhaps I wished to return to my beloved mother." She replied simply, coming over and taking a careful seat on the home-crafted double seating chair that required the utmost care to even sit upon it. She leaned over carefully and wound her arms around her aging body. "Have I ever mentioned how grateful I am for you?" She whispered.

A gentle hand stroked her raven black hair. "You tell me in your actions each time you smile at me." She stated softly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "You have no idea how proud I am of the beautiful young, courageously gentle woman you have blossomed into, Elle." Her mother glanced towards the ceiling as though she was looking at something else, something unseen in the grains of wood. "And you have no idea how proud everyone else is of you as well."

 **MvM**

Klaus frowned. "The Kilgrant child is deceased, as is the witch who stole her into the night. What is the meaning for remaining here in this strange dismal town?" His sister demanded and he sighed, not glancing up from his sketch. Rebekah scowled. "Well I wish to leave this place. If this child that we came to kill is already deceased and her witchy caretaker is gone too, what reason do we have to remain here?"

She then peered over his shoulder and with a gasp of outrage, she snatched the almost completed sketch from his hands. She held it up jut as Elijah walked into the room. "So this is the reason we cannot leave? Some human?! I am reprimanded night and day for loving someone and yet you sneak and sly yourself into falling for a mortal? Whatever happened to loves makes vampires weak?!" She yelled in an accusing tone.

He shot to his feet, eyes furious. "And who said anything about love?!" He raged back, snatching it back from here. "I am not the one who offers to turn every man who sees up their skirts, Rebekah!" He attempted to calm his breathing, but it was no use. "I am finding something to pass the time, nothing more, and nothing less." He lied, not willing to admit what she was claiming was true. Love did make his species weak, and Klaus Mikaelson did not do being weak, not once, and never again.

Elijah cleared his throat from the doorway. "And we may have a reason to remain here after all. I just spoke with our resident witch. No child named Ellevira has been buried here. No woman named Helena has also expired here. She keeps very detailed logs of such events, especially if another of her kind, shall we say unfortunately passed? She would know, and she would know if said witch had an infant in her care at any time. There was a woman by such name, and there was an unknown child with her, and when the said wet nurse of infant child passed with her young son, the witch and child merely disappeared from public eye altogether."

Klaus raised a brow. "And you are sure of this? My latest interest told me that such a child died when she was a young child herself. Her mother told her of it for she helped care for such a woman, and she watched them be buried into the ground. Perhaps your witch is wrong, dear brother." He commented loftily and sat back down again.

 **MvM**

 _Elle glanced around the magnificent hall that was filled of people. Everyone looked to be enjoying themselves; their faces were alight with their laughter, wine filled goblets clutched in their hands. A small smile came to her face. This was something she enjoyed seeing herself -laughter and people enjoying themselves._

There was a young woman sat at the head of the table, something swaddled in her arms. Elle moved closer, curiosity plaguing her beautiful features. It was something about the woman -and then man next to her- that stuck her as being someone of even something familiar about them. She came to a stop behind their beautifully carved wooden chairs, and her features softened as she gazed down at the barely a month old infant that was swaddled in the woman's arms.

A child with blue eyes and the darkest hair seemed to ring some nostalgia within her, and she watched with curious eyes as the woman seemed to say something to who seemed to be her husband. Elle watched as she gave a polite nod to the others at the large banquet tables, and then , without further ado, she stood with the child Elle now realised to be her daughter and she swept down the halls, out of the banquet hall, and towards a beautiful golden door at the end of one of the longest corridors she herself had ever seen.

But for some reason, as the strange woman entered the room, Elle herself could not. Frustration clouding her gaze, she pushed and shoved at the door until the woman entered back out of it, closing the golden door behind her with a small smile of peace. She then made her way back down the corridor from which she had came from, and with a strange growing dread, Elle followed her.

Elle watched as a dark shadow followed behind her, and as she herself rushed forward to attempt to warn the woman of danger, it was too late. The demon kind monster man pounced, saying a few mocking, inaudible words before he sank his sharp teeth into her throat as though the skin was nothing but melted butter and it was easy to cut through,

Letting out a wail of discontent, Elle shot up in bed as sweat trickled down her cheeks. Her mother rushed in, alarm plastered over her face. She rushed to where her daughter was quietly sobbing in an instant, and she wrapped her arms around her. She shushed her inconsolable daughter soothingly. "My sweet girl, tis just a dream. You have nothing to fear." She whispered, stroking a hand over her damp hair.

Elle shook her head. "It felt real, mother!" She exclaimed in a wail. "I dreamt of monsters and nobility and golden doors in which I could not enter, and I saw a woman die before my eyes in the arms of a demon who drank her blood." She continued, not seeing her mothers eyes widen above her head before those comforting arms tightened. "Tis just a dream," she repeated, although she wasn't quite sure if she believed it herself whatsoever.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Strange feelings**

Elle pulled back from Klaus with a small smile, resting her forehead against his. "I thought you had forgotten me," she confessed in a whisper, eyes shining.

Klaus smirked. "I could never forget you, love. Does your mother not wonder where you go when you rush out in the morning to greet me and do not return until the skies above are darkening?" He teased and she laughed quietly, intertwining their fingers and feeling his thumb rub over her knuckles. "My mother has other pressing concerns such as making a living for our household, what with no father around to contribute to our support. She has a little patch of land in which she grows our produce, some of which she sells to the market venders. She is a hardworking woman." She admitted.

He chuckled. "She sounds like it. Does she not fear a man would corrupt her sweet, innocent daughter?" He taunted, his fingers caressing the swell of her waist.

The gesture made a shudder wrack her spine and a shaky exhale slipped past her lips. "I trust you not to attempt anything without my knowledge." Came her answer and he gave a sly, wicked grin in response. "You should never place such trust in another, love." He replied and she pulled back with a knowing look in her eyes. "And yet, I do. I see the best in those who are not fortunate to have such admirable qualities about them. When I see a thief, I wonder if that person has a hungering family that they must steal to provide for. When I see a murderer, I wonder if that person has an impairment of sorts which leads them to become out of control and commit such atrocious acts. And when I saw my first witch sacrifice, I wondered if that woman had a loved one who was sick and ailing and that they dabbled in those forbidden acts to save that loved one?"

He watched her speak with a certain look of being unnerved. Elle smiled slightly, her eyes meeting his once again. "Not everyone is as evil as they deem themselves to be, Lord Niklaus, so I do not understand how you can deem yourself to be unworthy of them simplest of emotions such as love? One who lives their life without such would be a lonely man, would you not agree?"

She watched as he seemed to contemplate her answer before he sighed. "If certain circumstances decreed it to be like that. Come now, enough talking. You claim your mother ventures out to the markets once and a while. I am inviting you to my birthday get-together which is next week, when the markets are going on in the neighbouring towns."

Elle looked at him with wide eyes. "You wish to invite me to a party in which I do not possess the correct attire to attend? I am a commoner, and you are a noble. It would be improper for me to attend, or even be associated with you." She muttered and he tipped her chin up with a finger under it. "And you would worry yourself about this when you have been visiting me now for a fortnight and a half?" He jested.

Her blue eyes were wider than he had ever seen them. "And it is unholy for a young lady such as yourself to be left alone in her home while such evil lurks outside the doors and windows of said home." He added, and Elle sighed softly. "I shall give you my answer come tomorrow, and I must journey home now for my mother shall begin to wonder where I am venturing off to, and she would not take lightly to see me fraternizing with a nobleman as I was just with you mere moments ago." She admitted.

Klaus hummed, standing and holding out a hand. "Then you must return, and I eagerly await your answer come the morning." He replied.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Different walks of life**

Her mother sighed softly. "I shall have to leave soon." She confessed, stoking her hand over Elle's raven black hair. Blue eyes glanced at her in question and her mother continued. "The markets are moving further and further from us each time they come around, and our harvest shortens each time it does. I must provide for us somehow." She finished.

Elle nodded, her mind on the offer she had received to attend the lavish upcoming ball that everyone in the village none too far from their home was gossiping about. "I know, mother. I shall be fine while you are gone, as I always am. You need not worry about me. If you leave out the morning brew already prepared and that it should need only reheating, I am quite capable of doing such a task."

The older woman nodded with a small smile. "Perhaps this would be good training for if you become married to a man, and perhaps this shall show you how to do the simplest of duties in order to fulfil the duties one must as ones wife. It is settled then -I shall go to the markets, and you shall remain here."

 **MvM**

Her breath fogged in the cold air as she sketched once more. Not lilies, but the beautiful waterfall that the Lord Niklaus had taken her to and shown her of. It wasn't the simplest of things to sketch for it was ever changing, the frothing, churning waters never remaining the same for a single moment whatsoever. It was challenging, but she enjoyed a challenge.

The crunching of boots upon frosted earth alerted her to that fact she was no longer alone and she glanced up to see the man she had come here to meet in the first place. He grinned down at her. "Your answer, love?"

Elle sighed, glancing back down at her sketching. "I will come, but I'm still uneasy about the whole prospect of being in a home full of nobles when I am a commoner. What kind of reputation would that besiege your family with?" She admitted with a certain sadness and he took a seat beside her on the collapsed log she was perched upon.

"My family would not mention anything if they knew what was good for them, and anyone who dares speak out of turn would swiftly lose their tongue, prohibiting them from talking wrong about anyone again." He responded fiercely and Elle, although a little disturbed by how fondly had spoken of such horrific violence, smiled slightly at the conviction in his voice.

"And with a woman possessing such beauty as yourself, one would never question that you came from such poverty. One would think you came from nobility yourself, sweet Elle. With your hair as dark as a ravens wings and your eyes bluer than any sea I have set my eyes upon, none would question where you came from." He added.

Her cheeks flushed. "And when will you cease attempting to make me become red? I am on the inside, but I most certainly do not wish to be that colour until the day I take my last breath of air." She whispered, a hand coming to clasp over his own, which he grasped, revelling in the warmth of it as he closed his fingers around the dainty limb as though the simplest of grasps could break the fragile bones that resided inside.


	8. Chapter 8

**_Authors note: This chapter contains details of a mature content._**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Private dances and demons**

Elle sipped her morning brew slowly, watching her mother packing up certain supplies she would need on her two night journey there and back. Her mother glanced at her. "Are you certain you shall be content while I am gone? I could hurry back if need be and shorten my trip." She attempted but Elle shook her head with wide eyes. "Mother, I shall be more than content. I will be drawing most of the time, and you have shown me how to prepare an evening meal. I know what I must do, and you know what you must do in order for us to each survive." She reassured.

Her mother nodded slowly. "It does not get easier whatsoever leaving you on your own. Sometimes I wonder where the little girl who used to cling to my skirts has gone. You grew up so quick." She murmured, trailing her fingers through her daughter thick dark locks of hair. Elle smiled slightly. "As do I sometimes." She admitted quietly, accepting a kiss to the cheek before her mother packed up the rest of her supplies, and with another kiss to the forehead this time, slipped out the door with a goodbye and that she would be back soon, and not, under any circumstances, to leave the cottage.

 **MvM**

Klaus had been waiting not so patiently for half an hour when she finally arrived, breathless and wide eyed. "I had to wait for my mother to leave, and to be certain she had left." She explained in a rush and he chuckled. "My siblings are otherwise occupied, allowing you time to prepare yourself in a manner in which I gather you would like to be presented in. The event begins as soon as the skies begin to darken, which, given how late your mother decided to leave, does not allow us much time at all." He stated.

She took the arm he offered with a certain appreciative gratefulness and followed him at his leisurely pace. She glanced at him worriedly, anxiously. "Do your siblings know I am attending? Please, I do not wish to intrude nor make your relations strained or-" she began but he levelled her with a look that made her reconsider. "I do not care what others, or perhaps they, think about who I associate myself with. What others may think is of little consequence to me. They are beneath me, and I _do not care._ " He stated.

His home was magnificent. Her eyes widened as she stared at the large mansion with the extensive gardens that seemed to stretch as far as her eyes could see. It was a beautiful masterpiece, and she hadn't laid eyes on anything quite like it. But then again, she had never quite ventured this far from that little cottage she resided in with her mother.

It was just as beautiful on the inside, and she glanced about with wonder-filled eyes as he led her down magnificently decorated hallways before they came to a stop outside a large wooden door. He pushed it open without hesitation, leading her into it before he pulled the door shut behind her. She glanced at him. "Whose room is this?" She asked quietly and he gave her an slyly innocent smirk. "Perhaps it could be mine?"

Elle rolled her eyes with an amused smile. "You and your little tricks." She mused, glancing around before her eyes fell upon a jade green gown that was draped across his bed. She glanced at him and he walked forward, trailing his fingers across the silken fabric. "I thought it would compliment you in more ways than one, and of course, considering this is a masked celebration, one would look out of place without such." He commented breezily, picking such a mask off of the bed.

She stared down at the outfit before there was a timid sounding knock at the door and with a snap of his fingers, a maid entered with a sort of glazed yet blank look in her eyes. She curtsied once. "I was sent for to assist the lady with her dressing." She stated, her voice devoid of emotion. It was as though she was being controlled from the inside with a look in her eyes that unsettled Elle deep within.

Klaus hummed. "Then I shall leave you to it. Do not open this door to anyone, and I shall be back once you are prepared. Finish swiftly, my sweet Elle."

 **MvM**

She couldn't believe her eyes as she stared at herself in the large mirror which was placed against the wooden decorated walls. She looked beautiful, truly beautiful for once in her life. That maid which had attended to her must have had practice in such things for she had done a splendid job indeed. Her raven black hair had been styled so it was cascading down her face in ebony coloured ringlets -how she had managed that Elle didn't know. The gown which had been provided for her contrasted strangely with her creamy white skin, and with her darker than dark hair and sea blue eyes. It was beautiful, but it was oh so tight.

She had been so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't hear him entering until he appeared in the reflection of the mirror behind her, startling her. Elle reacted with a sharp gasp, mirth shining in her clear blue eyes. "You startled me!" She exclaimed in a laugh and he smirked, hands coming to behind his back as he clasped them there. His own blue eyes travelled up and down her green silk clad form. "You look ravishing, love."

Elle flushed ruby red with wide eyes. "Do I meet the standards of acceptable?" She murmured as he moved closer, toying with a black ringlet that draped across her flushed cheek. The skin darkened beneath his touch. He nodded, humming under his breath as he did so. "You certainly do, love. Do you feel up to the task ahead of you know?"

Her head shook almost in an instant. "No, but I suppose I must brave it considering it is your birthday after-all." She confessed, her brows furrowing as he moved over to the dresser, coming back with what looked like an ornately carved golden necklace with a ruby in the centre. She shook her head. "I cannot accept that," she attempted but he shook his head, a challenging look on his face. "It would give me peace of mind. It contains a rare plant which would keep you safe from those demons you claim plague your mind," he whispered in her ear, his voice mocking and it made her smile slightly as the mood in the room lifted ever so slightly.

It rested in the valley between her bosom and she looked at him in the mirror. "Thank you," she whispered, eyes shining slightly. He nodded once, and he extended his arm towards her. "Shall we?"

 **MvM**

The room was alight with cheerful attitudes, though some were not. Rebekah stared around the room before storming up to her older brother. "Where is he? We throw him his bloody celebration as always." She voiced her frustrations and he sighed, staring at the rim of his wine glass. "Fashionably late, as always, dear sister." He sighed again as though he was weary of repeating the same thing over and over again.

Her response was to scowl, that was until she looked over towards the entrance and she gaped at the entrance as her brother appeared, a woman on his arm who looked enchantingly beautiful in a green silk gown and raven ringlets cascading around her face. She turned to Elijah, seeing he too was staring as though he could not believe his eyes.

"A commoner," she exclaimed in a brittle whisper, eyes wide. "He brought a bloody commoner. A commoner!" She repeated, eyes looking as though she couldn't believe what she was seeing. She watched as her brother walked through the crowd of those who wished him birthday wishes, that woman looking uneasy as she walked alongside him, as though she could feel the gazes of everyone piercing deep into her skin.

Elijah nodded from beside her. "I see that, Rebekah. Perhaps this is the woman who has captured his attention so. She does look so familiar..." He trailed off, brows furrowing.

A bitter scoff came from beside him and he glanced at her. "So Nik can love someone and I can not? How is this in anyway fair?!" She exclaimed and he looked at her again with a warning look. "Sister, you will not do anything to sabotage this. Perhaps she can change him, make him more acceptable to what you and the others desire." He warned.

Rebekah gave a sly smirk which would have made her older brother Kol proud of. "Of course, brother, of course."

 **MvM**

Elle swallowed thickly as she stood beside the window, staring out of it. It was strange to look out of a window other than the only one she had been looking out of for all of her life. She had been around others for around an hour now, and their piercing gazes still burning deep into her exposed skin, not that there was much of it.

This was not her idea of fun whatsoever, but it was the Lord Niklaus's, and it was his birthday after all, so she was bearing it for him.

" _You need to leave_."

Elle glanced to her left to see a woman with pale gold hair, and she too looked extraordinarily beautiful in a cream gown that fitted her perfectly. She too unnerved her and she frowned. "I need to...leave?" She repeated and the woman nodded simply. "My brother is incapable of love, and you, before you get hurt by him, need to leave and save yourself from his bastard ways." She repeated in a none too pleasant voice.

Her blue eyes travelled to the Lord Niklaus who was engaging in a conversation across the room, and when he seemed to feel her eyes upon him, he looked at her with a faint smile, a rare smile which soon fell as he saw who she was talking to.

The woman stole her attention again with a rude clear of her throat. She stared at her, eyes focussed on hers. "You need to leave," she repeated in a slow voice and Elle paled, feeling as though the woman was trying to do something to her, and it started as a pricking sensation at the back of her mind. And when something didn't seem to happen, the woman moved closer, but before she could do anything else, Klaus appeared beside her. "Sister," he warned.

Elle shuddered as he placed a hand on her back, something the woman nor he missed. She was shaken, but unharmed, and that was good but not good enough for him. Elle shook her head. "Its fine," she whispered, eyes shining. The woman paused as Elle took a shaky inhale and then exhale. "I will leave."

Klaus shook his head, giving a murderous look to his sister. "No, you don't have to leave merely because she said so." He stated in a low voice but Elle shook her head, reaching behind her head to pull her mask off, and she placed it in his hand. "But I do." She whispered, eyes shining. "I told you I do not belong here, and yet you would not listen."

She moved past him, pausing once. "I hope you have a good birthday," she murmured before continuing on her way, head down as she walked out the door.

 **MvM**

Klaus looked at Rebekah with a furious look in his eyes. "Give me a reason why I should not place you back in your coffin with a dagger in your heart." He hissed venomously and she stood her ground. "So you are allowed to love where I am not? How selfish of you!" She accused, eyes wide and wounded.

He shook his head with his lip curled back angrily, and stormed off, following the sweet scent of Elle who was walking down the corridor, and he could smell the salt from the tears that were pooling in those clear blue eyes of hers as she kept her head down, walking around a corner before he decided to catch up with her.

Blue eyes glanced at him as he clasped her elbow, pulling her back to him before she could walk away any further. "Do not listen to Rebekah," he stated strongly and she shook her head, those tears now spilling down her fair cheeks. "But she is your sister, and I warned you what those close to you would perceive me to be, that they would think me nothing more than dirt beneath their feet because I am a commoner and you are not. This cannot continue."

Elle exhaled shakily. "I think I understand now how my mother felt when my father ran off and left me with her. Love is not something to take lightly." She hiccupped and he shook his head. "Come, let us not return, but let us return to each other." He corrected and she shook her head. "I cannot, and as much as it pains me to, I need to leave as your sister said for me to do."

She went to leave but he clasped her wrist once again, his mouth catching hers as she looked up at him to say something. Elle, startled, reacted as she had been doing when he routinely surprised her such as this. Her hands reached up, pulling him further down before her mind could attempt to convince her otherwise once more. Her back hit the wall, a sharp stab of pain echoing down her back. It didn't matter though, for she was too engrossed in what was happening to be concerned otherwise.

When she felt the need to breathe, she pulled back, eyes wide as she inhaled and exhaled heavily. "Why must you attempt to change me like that?" She whispered as she tried to regain the air she had lost. He smirked down at her. "Perhaps because I can and I will. Come, let us leave these celebrations behind." He ordered, a hand clasping her own before she found herself being pulled down the corridors towards the room she had came from an hour or two beforehand.

Elle paused as he went to enter. "You said it was my choice, that you wouldn't make me do anything I didn't want to," she reminded him in a whisper and he raised a brow. "And you still have that choice. What will it be, love? Go to another room in this corridor alone, or come in mine with me and spend the night in my bed where others wish they could be?" He leaned down, muttering the enticing words into her ear as she swallowed thickly, goosebumps raising on her pale flawless skin.

Blue eyes met his own before she nodded shakily, as though this was the biggest decision she had made in her entire life. And with a wicked smirk, he pulled her into the room after him, the door slamming shut behind them both before a dull thump echoed against the hard wood.

 **MvM**

Deep into the night, with the mere glow of the flickering candles from across the room, Klaus Mikaelson, a name that had grown to be feared for decades, stared down at the sleeping Elle, her bare form covered with the heavy sheets on his bed. She looked peaceful, something he could not be in the slightest.

To not wake her, he unclasped the vervain filled necklace from around her neck with a quiet sigh. Goodness knows what could have happened had she not of been wearing it. He would have known his sister to attempt something as spiteful as that, and unfortunately yet fortunately for her, it had ended in him getting what he wanted.

He stared at her, watching her as she slept. How could one so plagued look so peaceful? He could not be as peaceful as she was, but could a vampire whose murderous step-father searched day and night for him to kill him ever rest so peacefully? Not likely, he mused.

Trailing a finger down her bare back, and relieved when she did not wake, he rose from the covers, pulling on his clothes as he went to confront his siblings who he could hear downstairs thanks to his advanced hearing. Feeling the anger consume him once more, and with a last glance towards the sleeping woman in his bed to see if she showed signs of waking -which she didn't- he stormed out of the room.

Both Elijah and Rebekah looked up as he walked in the room, the latter going stiff. Klaus smirked. "Have anything to say, sister, before I place you back into your coffin?" He greeted casually and Elijah stood, holding a hand out. "Come now, brother, your evening was not as ruined as it could have been, giving the sounds that came from your chambers none too long ago. Let us forget this foolish indiscretion, and on a much brighter note, my witch located your not so dead witch nurse who staked you eighteen years ago. She is currently returning to a small cottage none too far from here." He replied in a rush.

Klaus paused, turning back around to look at his older brother. "Oh, is that so? Then perhaps I should awaken Kol. He did so wish to be around when that witch was found and slaughtered. Yes, let us wake him."

Rebekah gave him a look. "Are you sure that to be wise with your precious Elle now in your bed? We do know how he likes to corrupt that which is oh so innocent." She rushed and Klaus chuckled darkly. "Would you rather go into your coffin, Rebekah, or would you rather have him out of his instead?" He corrected and she shook her head, closing her mouth before she could talk back to him.

With a dangerous smirk, Klaus nodded once and walked to the cellar doorway, grabbing a maid along the way, a sickening snap echoing through the home as he snapped her neck before she could let out a loud scream, not that she would anyways, at least not now that she was dead. He took the steps two at a time, coming to a standstill at one of the coffins, bypassing the other two without a care in the world for them. He threw upon the coffin lid, dropping the corpse of the dead maid onto the floor.

Pulling out the silver dagger, he leaned down. "Brother, I do believe you just found a reason to live once again."

 **MvM**

Helena trudged along the beaten path with a soft sigh, her breath fogging in the cold nights air. No markets so she'd had to sell her produce to a neighbouring village close by, and a few had taken pity on her after she span a tale on how she had to care for her daughter after her husband had been taken by the approaching sickness. Idiots. They fell for it each time.

But something didn't feel right, and she hastened her walking pace, feeling as though eyes were upon her. She had felt it a few times beforehand, and she hadn't raised Elle, whose true name was Ellevira, for this long for it to be ruined all over again. She was proud of the child she had raised as her daughter, and she was proud of the beautiful young woman she had blossomed into.

The snapping of some undergrowth brought her to a stop, and she glanced around before she took a precautionary step back, eyes wide as she came face to face with her worst nightmare, a nightmare which had been haunting her for the last eighteen years ever since she had staked him. "Demon," she greeted.

Klaus smirked, ambling forward confidently. "Demon? You wound me, Helena. Where is that charge of yours? What was her name again, Ellevira wasn't it? Where is the last Kilgrant heir?" He demanded all of a sudden and Helena shook her head with a smug smirk of her own. "You think I'll tell you, well I won't," she hissed before taking off at a run towards the cottage behind her.

She had almost reached the door when Kol appeared in front of her, an arrogantly dangerous smirk on his face. "Come now darling," he commented, and she backed up with wide eyes, recognising him in an instant. "I would hate to rip out your pretty throat before you could tell us where that brat is. She isn't in the cottage -I checked."

Helena almost collapsed in horror. Where was she? She had been given specific instructions not to leave that cottage, and although she had broken her rules, she was glad she wasn't in there this precise moment.

"I won't tell you." She whispered, giving a gasping cry as something sharp pierced her side. Klaus shoved her back from the silver blade he had used with a sigh as though this was boring him. "No, I don't think you will, but that doesn't mean we can't leave a lovely welcome home present for dear Ellevira whenever she returns home from whatever hole she has crawled herself into. We will tear you apart, and leave you for her to find. After you, brother."

With a grin, Kol followed his brother, screams echoing around the forest as blood escaped in every direction that was possible and even more so after that.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Horror**

Warmth. That was all she could feel; warmth shone on her back, her bare back, and Elle frowned, her eyes closed still. There was someone beside her, and she turned her head, opening her eyes to find a face too close to hers. Eyes widening, she sat up in the large, luxuriously soft bed, holding the sheets to her chest. Everywhere ached, and her cheeks coloured red as the previous night events came back to the forefront of her ever so curious mind.

Elle glanced down at the Lord Niklaus who seemed to be asleep, and she could see a few red stains on his bare chest. Frowning, she reached over to touch them, but a hand grabbed her own before she could, and her cheeks coloured once again as blue eyes opened to stare at her. "Sorry," she whispered, laying back down beside him as he opened his eyes further to look at her. "I did not mean to wake you." She finished.

He raised a brow, reaching over to trail a finger down her bare and exposed shoulder. "Of course not, love, but I am now. What time would you have to return?"

Her eyes widened in horror before she attempted to rush upwards, only for him to grab her back down. "Come now, Elle. Tis only just sunrise. You need not return for a little while yet, and I have no intention of letting you go home just yet." He stated with a certain carefreeness she hadn't witnessed before as he pulled her under him, hands on either side of her head to prevent her escaping once more.

Elle flushed red, everywhere still aching, and his sudden movements had done nothing to cease those aches either, only worsened them with his quick movements. She could feel, even hear, her rapid heartbeat in her ears, and it sounded deafeningly loud even to her. If only he could of heard how loud it was too, and even though she didn't know he could indeed hear it, she reached up and pulled him down to her as he had the night before.

 **MvM**

For the umpteenth time that morning, Elijah sighed. "Remove your feet from the furniture, Kol, and do go change your clothes. We have an oblivious guest here, and I would rather she not go screaming to the other villagers about how murders had been committed here."

Kol smirked. "Oh, you mean Nik's little plaything? It sounds as though she's rather occupied at this current moment, 'Lijah." He stated, waggling a finger towards the ceiling. "I don't think she'll be coming down anytime soon. Coming altogether on the other hand- Ow, what was that for Rebekah?!" He exclaimed, pulling the sharpened sketching pencil from his arm, the hole made by it healing in an instant.

The blonde smirked. "Just because I escaped a dagger last night does not mean I have to be burdened with your crude jests. I wouldn't mention anything about his precious Elle to him." She retorted bitterly and Kol raised a brow. "Strange name. No 'Vira' on the end of that Elle?" He inquired and Rebekah shook her head with a frown on her own. "No, just Elle..." She trailed off, becoming lost in thoughts of her own.

 **MvM**

It was over two hours before Elle finally managed to persuade him to allow her to leave, and she did so without, thankfully, coming across either of his siblings. She slipped out of the large doors, journeying back home without such a setback whatsoever. It was cold, and the air was fresh and crisp, and Elle inhaled such with a small smile on her face.

But what would her mother think if she were to tell her of such sinful pleasures that had occurred during the night? She would of been furious, and Elle worried about such. Her mother was firm on remaining pure until marriage for she had not made that same commitment, and she had been pregnant and alone. Her mother hadn't wanted her to make such a mistake herself, hence all her rules about remaining pure until marriage, and Elle had broken that.

Her mother didn't need to know, right?

As she approached the cottage, something seemed wrong, out of place even. She spied her mothers cart where it usually resided at the side of the building, and a small smile bloomed on her face. But that smile faded as she saw speckles of red on the ground -blood. Her eyes widened and she knelt down to the ground, hesitantly placing a finger in it. It was still wet, and not because of the cold air which kept it moist. It was fresh, that much she knew from her mothers teachings.

More red followed up the front door of the cottage, and a strong, sickly smell of rust permeated her nostrils. Elle balked, her creamy skin paling even more as she hesitantly placed a violently shaking hand on the wooden door which seemed ajar, and she certainly hadn't left it like that, and her mother always closed it behind her to preserve what little warmth they always had. She placed her hand on the door again, and pushed it open. She wished she hadn't.

 **MvM**

A scream shrieked though the air, full of pain and anguish. Klaus rushed towards the cottage with Kol, both had been waiting for such a sound ever since they had murdered the one they had been searching for earlier that morning while the sky was still dark. But the former wasn't expecting to see what he did.

Elle was curled up beside her mother, the said woman covered in wounds which had contained major areas of blood, a liquid which now covered Elle. It had soaked into her attire, staining it red instead of the vibrant blue it was meant to be. Kol ventured forward to grab her, but Klaus shoved him back, eyes fierce and wide as his two other siblings appeared. Rebekah looked at the sobbing girl who was still curled beside her deceased mother with wide eyes. "It is Ellevira, not Elle." She whispered.

Kol raised a brow. "She still deserves to be killed for what her parents did." He argued and Klaus scowled, shoving him back once more before walking into the cottage, not surprised when he wasn't stopped from entering, as, after all, they had killed the owner. Elle didn't look at him, only sobbed harder, her salty tears mingling with the excessive blood which covered her clothing.

"Come on, love, you don't want to remain here." He attempted but Elle pulled back from him, her eyes wounded as she looked at him, her bottom lip trembling. "Who would do this?" She whispered, her voice crackling as she hugged her mother to her. Tears bubbled down her cheeks. "My mother never hurt anyone in her life."

Klaus swallowed. How could he do this? He couldn't. He simply held out a hand to her. "Gather your possessions, and come with me. We will find who did this to your mother." He stated, even though he knew he couldn't uphold his last promise. He had murdered her mother with Kol, and he had no intention of that knowledge ever being discovered by her, or told to her. He couldn't lose her, not now, not ever.

Elle trembled. "I cannot leave her, not even in death." She whispered, and he nodded with a gentle look in his eyes. "I know," he murmured, "I know."

Her blue eyes glanced down at her mother and she looked to the heavens as though they could help her somehow. "Will you help me find who did this?" She whispered and he nodded after a moment, something he couldn't do even if he wanted to, which he didn't.

Reaching out shakily, she placed her red stained hand in his, and he pulled her up, cradling her to his chest as you would an infant. Elle closed her eyes, not even to her senses enough to gather her possessions as he had told her to. The image of her mother, cut up and bloodied, stained her mind as tears tricked down her cheeks, and for once, she didn't think there was innocence in the world anymore.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Consequences be damned**

Elle felt as though she had been the one murdered, or at least she felt it inside. She had never known such despair, such emptiness, such loss of comfort. She couldn't eat, she couldn't sleep, and she felt dead to the world around her as it passed by, leaving her stuck behind in the past.

For what seemed like the hundredth time this morning, the Lord Niklaus appeared in the doorway of his bedroom. Personally, she would have wanted to be left alone to grieve, but it seemed he didn't trust, or think her well enough, to be left alone. He walked up to her, taking a seat beside her on the edge of his bed. "Are you going to consume anything?"

Numbly, Elle shook her head slightly. "No," she whispered and he sighed, seeming none too pleased with her answer. "Our maid has prepared attire other than your nightgown for you since your previous attire was beyond repair. I found something in your home, something I believe your mother wished you to have." He added, reaching into his tunic and pulling our a yellowed with age envelope.

That caught her attention and she took it from him without hesitation, seeing it was indeed addressed to her. She tore it open immediately, eyes wide as she began to read, ever so grateful that she had bothered to learn to read at all when most women her age couldn't or hadn't bothered to learn whatsoever.

 _Elle,_

 _I fear I have not been wholly honest with you throughout the course of your short yet wonderful life. I raised you as my daughter, and I am forever proud to have called you such. You have made me prouder than any mother could have ever been, where, in fact, I was never your true mother by blood._

 _Our journey together began long ago, when you were just a babe. I was a young nurse caring for the firstborn child, the daughter, of a powerful nobleman and his wife. I was there when a man came, demanding to know the whereabouts of his children who were anything but human as was the father. He threatened the life of the child I was caring for, and to spare the life of their child, the nobleman and his wife shared sacred information, not knowing the consequences which would follow._

 _The child was a little less than a month when the children of that man returned. They sought revenge for having their peace and tranquillity ruined, and as the Lady Amelia returned from having placed her daughter Ellevira in her cradle for her sleep, she was murdered by those monsters as her husband and their company also met their fates._

 _I had been warned beforehand of what I had to do. I took Ellevira from her cradle, and when a demon came to kill her, I killed him first. I ran with my charge, and I cared for her with the aid of a woman named Marie until both she and her young son passed from a common sickness that was passing through the village._

 _That child I saved was you, my sweet child. Your name isn't Elle Andrewson as I raised you to be, as I raised you to be my daughter, and although nature has deemed you to be mine in every way but blood, you are Ellevira Kilgrant, daughter to the Lord Henry and the Lady Amelia, and a young woman with dangers lurking at her every moment of life._

 _I know I am not here if you are reading this, and for that, I truly am sorry. Whatever has made it so I am not there to share your wonderful life with you, you must prevail. I raised a beautiful, intelligent young woman who I knew would overcome all that was thrown at her, so even though I know that this is a lot for you to understand and whatever age this arrives to you now, I know you can be brave and face the challenges life throws at you._

 _Love your mother of all intents and purposes,  
Helena_

Tears streamed down her face. "So now I have lived a life that has been an entire lie? You asked me about an Ellevira," she gasped out, the pain in her chest, in her heart becoming too much to bear. Klaus pulled her to his chest as her sobs choked her lungs. "And now I know not who I am, for my name is not even my real name," she choked out the words as though it clogged her insides up to speak them.

He hummed, a hand smoothing over her matted hair gently, a gentleness he even thought himself not capable of. "Perhaps, but Elle could be a shortened version of your full name, could it not? Elle could be a name used by those who know you, as Nik is mine reserved for family. Unless, of course, you would prefer Ellevira?"

Elle shook her head, her eyes still streaming tears. "No," she whispered, her hand falling over the one of his that resided on her arm. Watery blue eyes met his own. "I may have been born into nobility, but I was not raised in it. I was raised by my mother who mightn't of been my mother through blood, but she was my mother. She nurtured me, nursed me when I grew ill with fever, and she told me the exact tale of my life in the form of a bedtime story as a child. She protected me until now, and now I know who I am to be afraid of."

Klaus nodded, pulling her back to him. "I understand, love, I truly do. You are safe here -none shall harm you. Are you going to consume anything now? Your mother would not want you to suffer, at least eat a small meal in the least." He attempted.

With a saddened look in her eyes, Elle shook her head. "I am not ailing of hunger, but when I am, I will come find you, but now, I wish to be left to grieve for a little while, so please, let me grieve until I come find you." She whispered, and to her surprise, with a kiss to her forehead, he did so and left her be.

 **MvM**

It was a long while until she felt the stirrings of hunger deep in her belly, and even longer before she felt comfortable enough to leave the room. She knew how awful she looked -a fleeting glance in that long mirror had told her more than enough with her dark circles and matted raven black hair that was no longer retaining its normal shininess and silkiness.

Elle wandered down the hallways she knew led to where he no doubt was, or where someone was, but she stopped as angered sounding voices reached her as she stood on the stairs, listening in on the conversation that seemed to be taking place, and with bated breath, she heard her name mentioned.

 **MvM**

"You wish for me to kill her, even after I admitted I care for her?!" Klaus raged at his younger brother, who simply nodded as he reclined back, his feet upon the furniture, much to the annoyance of both Elijah and Rebekah. Klaus started forward but Elijah held a hand out. "We did swear to murder her family, Niklaus, something we have done. She has no one left."

"And had I of known who she was, I would have rid myself of her before I developed feelings for her, brother." Klaus spat back and Rebekah sighed from her position on the chaise beside her eldest brother. "The girl hasn't eaten since you brought her here, Nik. Perhaps she longs for death, and she did just discover her entire life has been a lie. Perhaps this would be a mercy killing." She stated quietly.

A soft snarl tore from his mouth at that. "And to put her down like a lame foal would be worse? I will not harm her, and neither will all of you, lest you wish to have a dagger in your hearts as a fair return. Elle is untouchable, and off limits. I do not wish her dead, and her mother, and her actual parents are the ones who paid their debt for their indiscretions." He seethed through gritted teeth, a choked sound making him turn and look towards the door, his own blue eyes widening in horror as the eavesdropper to their conversation turned and fled up the stairs that she had been huddled up on.

"Do you wish for her to live now knowing that she knows what you have done?" Rebekah stated as she looked between her brothers, and Klaus gave her a furious stare before using his normal speed to go after the human girl who was at the centre of their discussion.

 **MvM**

Elle rushed down the hallways that seemed endless, her eyes wide. How could that be? He would have been but a child, a young boy if he murdered her true parents. And then she remembered the letter her mother had written for her, one she had read only hours beforehand, and how her mother had stated that these "people", if they could be called that, were not human. She had described them as demons, and she had laid down and given herself to the very man responsible for all her unknown anguish over the years.

She could hear him behind her. His heavy footfall was not one to be mistaken for another sound, and she wondered if this was what her mother, and blood mother, had felt like all those years ago. It was terrifying. She knew from the words she had heard exchanged that he hadn't wanted to harm her unlike his apparent "siblings" had done so, but that was because she had loved him, _loved him_ , and he had been developing, or had supposedly developed feelings for her. Would those feelings now stand true if she despised him for ruining her life before she even had such a chance to walk or even utter her first word?

What was her life now? She had lowered herself in the worst kind of way. She had given herself in the most intimate kind of manner to a murderer, to a sinner, to a brutal, cruel man who had been behind everything -her mothers fear, the death of her blood parents, and now the death of the only mother she had ever been gracious enough to know. Her mother hadn't had to of stayed beside her. She could have left her to fend for herself, and yet she didn't. She remained beside her, cared for her, nurtured her, nursed her when she grew ill.

And now she had tainted her memory by sharing a bed with her murderer of all people...

Elle stumbled to a stop as her escape ran short in the form of an open window, and with wide, glassed over eyes, she clambered up onto it, swinging her legs out of it just as he rounded the corner. "You monster," she gasped out, those tears now streaming thick and fast down her cheeks, clouding her vision.

He made to take a step forward, but she shook her head. "You come closer and I jump from this window." She warned, relieved when he ceased moving. It was strange to see a certain rawness in his eyes, as though the sight of her sitting so close to danger spawned unknown feelings within him that he hadn't been on the feeling end of for years.

"Elle, love, you don't need to do that." He attempted and she scoffed bitterly. "I laid with the man who murdered my loved ones, who returned to me in his bed after he participated in the murder of the only mother I had ever known as though nothing had ever happened. I feel disgusting inside, tainted, ruined even. She warned me about the monsters that lurked outside our doors and windows, but I did not know they looked like the average person or I would never, ever of even bothered talking to you in the beginning had I known that I would feel as I do now. Do you have even the slightest idea in how I feel?"

He looked as though she had stabbed him inside numerous times with those words she had uttered. "Elle," he attempted again, forgetting what she had promised to do. Elle shook her head. "No, Klaus, no." She whispered, eyes falling to the ground that was a good twenty feet below her before she closed her eyes, and to his horror, moved forward and disappeared in a rush of air, a dull thud echoing afterwards.

 **MvM**

She looked dead when he appeared downstairs after using his immortal speed to reach her. Her legs were crumpled beneath her, but the faint heartbeat he could hear told him otherwise. He rushed over to her, blood trickling down her face from the large wound on the side of her head. Her spine was broken, that much he was sure of from the sickening way in which she was bent.

Elijah appeared in the doorway first and he walked over a leisurely pace of his own making, watching as his younger brother bit into his flesh and then placed the open wound over the young girls mouth. Blood trickled in and it was then that he sighed. "Brother, let her die, and let this end with her. She wishes for death, so let her have it." He attempted to reason.

But his brother ignored him, not moving until he was certain some of his blood hand entered her system, even if it was a little but enough to heal her on the inside. Sliding his arms under her, he stood easily, walking but pausing as he passed Elijah. "You claim to seek my redemption for all the atrocities I have committed, brother, you claim that I am not without hope."

His brother remained silent, letting him speak. "We swore to murder her along with her treacherous family, and yet she survived as we did all those years ago. Perhaps this is the universes way of allowing us a chance, all of us a chance. Love is a weakness, yes, but is it in all circumstances? Rebekah offers her heart out to every man who offers her a smile -that love is foolish, and that is weak. But the complete and utter devotion to another where you would do almost anything for them? Is that so wrong in which she must die because of what those she hardly knows did, and to save her apparently according to the farewell letter from the witch."

Elijah sighed, rubbing at his brow delicately. "This will not end well, brother, and I, not will Kol or Rebekah, be picking up the pieces of this one this time." He stated wearily and Klaus hummed, moving to walk past him. "We shall see, Elijah, we shall see."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Sleeping beautifulness**

 _It was strange, this feeling inside her. Elle felt as though she was floating, as though she literally had no bearing on solid ground. Was she free? Was she dead? Had she joined her loved ones at those pearly gates that she heard others preach about? She, deep down inside herself, hoped so. She would be free._

Her surroundings melted into that magnificent banquet hall, but this time there were no people. It looked as though life had been frozen there, captured in that one moment in which before the chaos had struck. Walking further into the room, the large carved wooden doors slammed shut behind her and Elle pressed a hand over her heart, startled.

"My sweet girl," a voice whispered, and Elle spun around to find the woman who she had witnessed the murder of in the first time she came here. Elle could feel herself breaking down inside. "You're my mother, aren't you?" She whispered, her voice cracking pathetically. The woman was beautiful; ringlets of golden hair fell to her waist and the kindest blue eyes, exact mirrors of her own, stared at her.

The woman whom she now supposed was her blood mother walked forward, pulling her into a gentle embrace. "Helena did such a good job of raising you," she whispered, a gentle hand stroking her raven black hair as she embraced Elle. The young woman sobbed softly at the mention of her deceased mothers name before she pulled back. "Am I dead, am I free to be with you and mother? Where is father?" She whispered.

A hand appeared on her shoulder as she finished speaking, a bear of a man with raven black hair and hazel eyes pulling her into a tight embrace that had she not of been expecting it, would have crushed her. The bear of a man glanced down upon her with a caressing smile of his own. "My sweet Ellevira, you cannot remain here, but oh how we wish you could."

Elle pulled back with a frantic look in her eyes. "Please do not send me back, not after I have finally discovered who I am. I ruined myself, I laid down with your murderer." She wept and her mother shook her head sympathetically. "You must, my sweet girl. Oh, how I wish I could have been there to witness all of your precious moments in life. You would have been a jewel to behold, you could have been anyone you wanted. And you still can, but you need to go back." She whispered, brushing the tears off of Elle's red cheeks. She pressed a kiss to her head, her husband doing the same. "Go back, my sweet girl."

 **MvM**

Tears rolled down Elle's cheeks as she laid comatose on the luxuriously soft bed, her hands clasped over her stomach. Klaus watched from beside the window. Was he becoming weak for caring about someone who he had sworn eighteen years ago to hate, to slaughter, to murder even? It was something he didn't like to dwell on, and as soon as she was awake, he would make sure she wasn't weak again with a simple twist of the wrist and a neck snapping.

But how wasn't she conscious yet? He frowned as he caught sight of the droplets rolling down her fair skinned face. Did this mean she was conscious? He frowned, seeing her hand clasping something in which it had not been a few moments prior. Walking forward, he made to look at whatever she held.

A hand shot up, that same hand, and something sharp pierced his chest. He looked down, feeling his body temporarily shutting down as he saw the piece of brutally sharpened wood protruding from his chest. Blue eyes opened to meet his own, and the blank look in them unnerved him. It was as though she wasn't there anymore, as though someone else was in there and not her. But the slight glimmer of pain in her eyes told him it was her, just overcome with the pain.

 **MvM**

One minute she had been with her parents, her true parents, her blood parents, and the next she found herself in the mansions gardens after impaling the Lord Niklaus with a piece of wood she knew she hadn't had before. She knew from what her mother had told her -Helena- that good things did not follow after you attacked one of their kind, and she also knew she hadn't killed him from the outraged look in his eyes before he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Elle ran. She ran until she could no more, until the sound of approaching others aught her attention and she stumbled to the ground behind what seemed to be a fallen tree. She heard the whoosh of wind, and then the voice of Elijah calling out to her. " _Ellevira! I know you're near -I can smell your blood! Tis pointless to run; Klaus will find you wherever you are_."

Now they had discovered him. She would be slaughtered in the most brutal of fashions, like her mother, and her true parents had been so. She heard a whoosh of air before all sound of them vanished again and after a few seconds of making sure no one was around her, she ran once more, not stopping until she came to the burned out remains of her cottage, her once joyful home. It looked horrendous, and just added to the fact that they ruined everything they laid their murderous hands upon.

Elle dashed inside as quick as she could, making for the ruins of a bedroom that resided in back. Her mother had always told tales of how she had a way to keep herself safe from the demons she they be upon her and it was too late to run. She scrambled through the wreckage, finding the same pale liquid filled vial without any problems at all.

Uncapping it, she drank it in one gulp, shuddering at the overbearingly sweet taste that promised danger and ruin. It was a poison, that much she was sure of. She heard the whooshing noise outside once more, feeling her strength waning as each minute ticked by. She hadn't nourished herself in the last two days, and it was beginning to take its effect on her with a poison now running through her mainstream. Grabbing a dagger that was also in the place with the vial full of poison, she stumbled upright and made herself visible to the demons that resided outside.

She recognised the anger in his blue eyes as easily as she recognised the feelings of weakness running through her veins. "You crossed a line too far, love." He ground out and Elle gave a weak, coughing laugh. "You talk of lines and yet you murdered those I love, and returned to me after you killed my mother where I now stand. You are hardly the one to talk to me about those lines which we do not cross. You ruined my life before I could even look at another properly without it being a mindless blur." She accused back, tightening her grasp around the blade of the dagger she held, withholding her gasp of pain as the metal cut into her flesh.

He glanced down at the dagger with ill concealed amusement. "You thirst for death, do you now? I healed you, Elle, and my blood runs through your veins. Kill yourself, and you shall become the very thing you hate." He pointed out and Elle hummed, coughing again, this time blood splattering on her hand as she covered her mouth with it. He noticed it and frowned. "What did you take?" He demanded.

Elle shook her head. "Something my mother had laying about. Quite potent, I'm guessing, from how I now feel having consumed it only moments ago. And I don't think I will become like you. My mother, my true mother, and my father, kept me under long enough for it to filter out my body. I die, and you will be forever alone. Who would love someone knowing what you are, who you are?"

She coughed violently once more, this time blood trickling out of her mouth faster in rivets, and she coughed again, eyes wide as she slid down the door frame, or what had once been the doorframe to her bedroom. He slammed at the invisible boundary, the foundations shaking as he did so. She glanced up at him with watery eyes. "You will forever be alone," she whispered and he shook his head, holding a hand out. "Join me, love, and you won't have to feel this, or even remember this again. I can make you forget it all."

Elle shook her head again, head falling limply on her shoulder. "No," she whispered, eyes falling shut. "Just let me die in peace," she finished just as the rest of the Original family appeared, watching as her last breath rattled through her, the dagger in her hand clattering to the ashy, cracked stone floor.

 **MvM**

She looked beautiful, even in death. Klaus resisted the urge to smash the coffin into a thousand pieces as he stared down at her. That was where she would remain, preserved by a witches spell, that was until it was deemed the appropriate time for her to awaken once more, a pitiful human once again.

Elijah appeared in the doorway and he sighed. "So you aim to keep her like some trophy, dead and preserved?" He inquired and Klaus hummed, shutting the coffin lid with a loud bang. He rounded around with anger clearly over his face. "I do indeed, only question is which one of you will go back into your coffin? I could choose Rebekah for her blatant lack of regard for the warning you gave her, and I could choose you for being an irritating voice always whispering in my ear about redemption. I tried your redemption, brother, and look where that got me! A woman whom I swore to loathe and destroy, one who I was beginning to love as you wanted me to, but now, I hold her preserved in a coffin like Finn with a dagger in his heart!" He roared, knocking over an empty, neighbouring coffin.

The older brother moved forward. "Brother, she is dead. We swore to end her bloodline years ago and yet, here she lies, preserved in a coffin as though she is one of us. She is not. She is human, a species many a time that you have claimed are beneath us, and yet, you grew to care for one, one we swore to slaughter along with her treacherous relatives. Quite ironic, wouldn't you agree?"

Klaus smirked slightly. "Tis indeed, but now she is dead, and we can focus on more pressing matters; finding our runaway doppelgänger, Katerina."

* * *

 **Authors note: This is the end of the first part, that being in 1500AD, and now we're off to present times with a rather quaint Virginian town ;)  
**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Strange new world**

Chicago was full of life, and yet there was a warehouse where not much of it existed. Five out of the six coffins held bodies inside them, four supernatural creatures, the fifth not so much. Stefan ambled into the warehouse room which was housing all the coffins, heading for the first one he came across. He crouched ever so slightly, and with a curious gaze, he lifted up the lid.

The woman inside was beautiful, even in death. Long, raven black hair that was styled in ringlets reached down to her waist, a few stray curls covering her face, and it looked as though they had been purposefully arranged like that. Her skin was a sickly pale colour, yet there was no dagger protruding from her chest. She looked as though she had been dead for centuries by her clothing choice. She was small too, and looked no more than what she appeared to be which seemed to him to be just of age to be classed an adult.

"She was a dalliance of Nik's during the early 1500's." A voice explained from the entrance of the warehouse, heels clicking against the cold stone floor telling him he wasn't alone anymore. He stood, closing the coffin lid quickly. He glanced at Rebekah. "And he keeps her in a coffin?" He asked, sceptical.

Rebekah shrugged. "He loved her, I suppose. Never quite figured out what made her so special. We murdered her loved ones, did the whole deal, and yet she still managed to worm her pitiful self into my bastard brothers heart." She added and then sighed. "Nik went to check on the witch," she sighed again.

He nodded and she glanced around the room. "Dreary, isn't it? The family cargo." He hummed under his breath, glancing down at the coffin he had just closed. "Why don't you just undagger them?" He asked as though it was the most obvious question in the world and Rebekah gave him a pointed look as though he himself had just asked the most ridiculous question in the world. "Because he would hunt me down and kill me," she stated simply. "He's a vindictive little bastard, my brother."

"But you still care about him; why?" he mused and Rebekah sighed softly under her breath. "Why, I hated him for a long time, but it was exhausting." She stated simply before taking a seat on the coffin which had just been opened. Stefan, with raised brows, sat beside her. "You know, when I met you two, you were both on the run."

Rebekah smiled slightly. "Also exhausting." She joked and he smiled, albeit a little slyly. "Who were you running from?" He pressed.

"What do you mean?" She inquired.

"Last night I saw you, there was man looking for you. You both seemed afraid, and I just wouldn't think that Klaus would be afraid of anybody."

It was as though she could sense something was wrong, but she smiled plainly. "No one in this world is truly fearless, Stefan, not even Niklaus." She stated and he shrugged nochantly. "Who was that man?" He continued and she hesitated before getting quickly to her feet, getting up off of the coffin. "I can't, please." She glanced about nervously. "If he knew we were talking about this..."

Stefan scrambled over his apology as quick as he could to cover his tracks, but it was too late, and she knew he was up to something, but said nothing.

 **MvM**

Klaus walked into the warehouse, catching the end of the conversation that had been taking place. " _I can always tell when you're lying, Stefan_." He heard.

"Gloria's gone. She cleared out; we need to find a new witch immediately." Klaus exclaimed before pausing at the sight before him. "What's going on?" He asked and Rebekah looked at him. "Somethings wrong." She began, talking a slow walk forward. "He was asking about Mikael, and I caught him looking at Elle." She finished, not missing the rage that began to appear in an instant at the last name she mentioned.

As the fire raged on, she added more fuel. "He's not with us, Nik, I can sense it." She continued and Stefan rolled his eyes. "She's wrong," he began himself. Klaus tipped his head ever so slightly, the rage inside reaching a peaking boil over. "Klaus, the Salvatore attempted, but it was too late, and in a fit of anger, the hybrid rushed forward in a coloured blur.

 **MvM**

Later on in the night, as they were both reloading the coffins back into the truck, Klaus paused as it came to the last. What had caused the once close ally, once thought of as a brother, to go snooping around his coffins? He lifted the lid, relieved deep down inside, secretly of course, that the raven haired young woman within looked as peaceful as she had the night she had taken her last breath in that hovel of a cottage. Of course, blood stained her once cream nightgown, but other than that, she looked peaceful as one could be given that she had indeed been deceased for over five hundred years just about.

Rebekah walked up behind him. "I placed Stefan in the back also. Did he do anything that ruffled her delicate curls?" She retorted sarcastically and Klaus smirked slightly, moving a ebony ringlet back into place where he had styled it as such centuries ago. "No, he did not. She remains as untouched as ever,"

Her eyes rolled. "Why not rid yourself of her? She hated you in the end, she hated all of us. Wouldn't it be better to spare yourself the hassle of having to deal with a suicidal woman again who, in the end, actually killed herself?" She pointed out.

Klaus sighed. "Because one cannot help who they care for, sister. I tried to stop her from meaning such to me, and yet I could not. She burrowed her way inside, and when I realised it, she was far too deep for me to fight it. She made me realise that not everyone is out to hate you, until, of course, they have a reason to do so as she did then."

The blonde original sighed, moving her hair over her shoulder. "I don't like her, Nik," she complained and he chuckled, closing the coffin lid gently. "You never have liked someone if they didn't belong to you, little sister. Come, let us return to the rather quaint Virginian town called Mystic Falls."

 **MvM**

With a light kick to the unconscious vampires foot, Klaus walked back, perching himself on the coffin which contained one of his brothers. Stefan shot up into a sitting position after a moment, eyes falling onto the original in an instant. The sight of the smirk on the older vampires face unnerved him. He held a hand up before Klaus could do anything else. "Just give me a chance to explain myself, okay?"

Klaus retained his smirk. "No need," he replied, amused. "I'm not mad; I'm just curious. Rebekah seems to think you're holding onto something, a piece of your old life. The thing is, she's got flawless instincts, borderline supernatural," he continued, leaning forward with the amusement expanding all over his features. "So I thought I would check it out; see for myself what you've been hiding."

He got up off of the coffin and walked towards the truck door, the other, younger vampire scrambling to his feet as light filtered into the storage area of the truck.

Stefan gazed around the outside of the truck in slight horror, as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Klaus smirked. "Welcome back to Mystic Falls, Stefan."

 **MvM**

Inside the coffin that was in the back of the truck, a dull thump began to echo; a heartbeat. But still, no one stirred. The cracking sound of Stefan's neck snapping repeatedly did little to block the sound out, and yet, no one noticed, not even as a gasp of air slipped past someone's dry and cracked lips.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Breath of life**

Mystic Falls high school was silent, all except for the sound of clanking weights coming from the school gym. Matt Donovan gave his aching arms a rub before the sound of another door somewhere in the school alerted him to the fact that he wasn't alone. Frowning, he got up to investigate.

A shadow moved behind him as he walked out of the gym, startling him and he caught sight of such as it moved behind him, and with a certain curiosity, he made to follow on in the direction in which it had gone -another corridor.

He came to a classroom in which there was a soft clicking coming from inside it, and with bated breath, he walked over, and quietly, he pushed it open.

Around a hundred mouse traps went off in a domino effect, and he moved in reaction to the sound of them, flicking the light on as he did so. The rest of the occupants in the room were startled too, and Caroline was the first to speak after she got past the shock of seeing her prank being destroyed around her. "Oh come on!" She exclaimed. "Seriously? Do you know how long it took for us to set all this up?"

Tyler gave Matt a look. "Forgot about senior prank night huh?" He inquired sarcastically and Matt gave a still out of breath laugh. "Clearly."

A gobsmacked look came over Caroline. "How could you forget?" She cried. "We've only been waiting for this since like freshman year?!" She finished and Elena nodded with a wide smile. "Yeah Matt, if I'm doing this, you're doing this." She stated, motioning between them with a large red torch and a baffled look came over his face. "I'm kind of surprised that any of you are doing this..."

Bonnie grimaced. "Caroline is making us..." She trailed off and Caroline looked at her with wide eyes. "We're about to be seniors," she began, gathering a few eyes rolls as a result of it. "These are memories that'll stay with us forever, and if we don't make them now-" Elena inputted with a knowing look upon her face. "If we don't make them now then what's the point of it all." She finished.

The blonde vampire sighed. "Go ahead and make fun, I don't care." She stated.

Elena sighed as she got up, walking towards the door before Caroline asked her where she was going, and with a cheeky smile, the brunette replied that she was going to superglue their history teachers desk shut before she began to walk away, her childhood friend calling after her.

She passed Tyler as she walked down the corridors, and on the other side of the double doors, her eyes widened as they landed on her worst nightmare who had returned. "Klaus," she whispered, wide eyed before she attempted to run back through the doors.

 **MvM**

"There's my girl." He stated with a sly smirk, blocking her escape as she tried to flee back through the doors she had come from. "You are supposed to be dead," he hissed before settling backwards, secretly relishing in the panic and fear that covered her face as she shuddered backwards. "What are we going to do about that?"

He grabbed her and began to pull her through the endless corridors of the high school. "You put a rather large kink in my plans, sweetheart. The whole point of breaking the curse and becoming a hybrid was to make more hybrids." He explained angrily, pulling Elena around another corner. "Haven't been able to do that, and now my bet is it has something to do with the fact that you're still breathing."

"If you're gonna kill me just do it!"

"Once I know I'm right, but I do have ways of making you suffer," he replied easily, pulling her to him before going through the gymnasium doors. It was filled with other seniors placing plastic cups on the ground, a handful other filling them. He walked in with Elena as though he owned it, and in a fake American accent, he called out -"Attention Seniors, you have officially been busted! Prank night is over, head on home!"

 **MvM**

Her hands scrabbled at the wooden lid of the coffin she was in, her blue eyes wide and frantic. She couldn't breathe, and there weren't any little air holes for her to be able to draw oxygen through. She coughed violently, a pleading sob echoing from her lips as she slammed at the smooth wooden lid over and over again, trying to free herself.

Someone heard her prayers.

The lid was thrown back, and Elle gasped in repeatedly, her lungs wheezing with each protesting gasp of air. "How am I alive?" She asked to the dark figure above her, her eyes fuzzing over and over again as dark spots dancing in a taunting dance across her eyes. Her head felt faint, and after a minute or so of awakening from her years long sleep, her head lolled to the side and the world vanished from before her eyes, along with the dark figure who, just as she had grown unconscious once more, had been reaching down for her to her complete and utter horror.

 **MvM**

Everyone in the gymnasium watched in horror as an unfamiliar blonde dragged a struggling Tyler into the large hall, Caroline nowhere in sight. Klaus smirked. "I'd like you all to meet my sister -Rebekah." The blonde gave a smirk that was too alike her brothers for it to be a coincidence. "Word of warning; she can be quite mean."

Rebekah scowled. "Don't be an arse." She retorted, shoving Tyler at him before she placed her hands on her hips, standing back to watch the scene unfold before her eyes. "Leave him alone," Elena snapped as Klaus grabbed the Lockwood werewolf by the back of the neck, dragging him over in front of everyone. "I'm gonna make this very simple for you," he announced, gesturing to Tyler. "Every time I attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire hybrid, they die during the transition. Quite horrible actually." He stated before biting into his wrist and shoving it into Tyler's mouth.

The werewolf struggled, gripping the arm that was pressed against his mouth. Klaus looked at Bonnie who, along with everyone else bar Rebekah, was watching in horror. "I need you to find a way to save my hybrids Bonnie, and for Tyler's sake, you'd better hurry." He ordered, snapping the wolfs neck without a care whatsoever.

 **MvM**

Stefan stared at the unconscious raven haired beauty that hung limply from his arms. Could he use her to bargain his freedom, and that of Elena's? He didn't know, but as he carried the woman into the school, he felt less and less secure about it. Would Klaus kill him? Would everything grow so much worse for him?

He carried her into the gymnasium, all eyes moving to him in an instant. Stefan dropped her with a dull thud, not mistaking the flash of anger that swept across the hybrids face. He glanced at Elena as she stood, hope blooming on her face. "Stefan," she breathed.

Ignoring his girlfriend, or rather ex-girlfriend, he looked towards the hybrid, ignoring the raven haired woman who was discarded to the side as though she was no more than trash. "Klaus," he began and the hybrid looked at him. "Come to save your damsel, mate?" He greeted back, his blue eyes flickering to the woman who laid beside his feet. "And you took what didn't belong to you. How dare you." He added, rage simmering deep inside as Stefan advanced.

"I came to ask for your forgiveness." Stefan came back with, ignoring everyone but the hybrid. "And pledge my loyalty." He added much to the hybrids amusement as a small smirk appeared on his face. He let it disappear and looked away in Elena's direction. "Well you broke that pledge once already."

"Elena means nothing to me anymore," he argued back, giving him a pointed look. "Whatever you ask of me, I will do." He concluded and Klaus gave a half-hearted smirk. "Fair enough." He stated, getting to his feet and striding off of the bleachers in two long steps. "Lets drink on it." He announced and walked towards where Elena was with Chad and Dana. "Kill them," he ordered, gesturing to the latter two who were huddled together on the gymnasium floor.

Klaus glanced back at Stefan who had hesitated. "What are you waiting for; kill them." He repeated and Elena shook her head. "No," she pleaded. "No, Stefan don't. He's not gonna hurt me, he already said that-" her words were cut off as the hybrid strode forward and angrily backhanded her across the face, sending her flying towards the floor.

The Salvatore rushed forward, tussling with Klaus until he ended it by grabbing him by the throat. "She means nothing to you?" He asked again, anger written across his face. "Your lies just keep piling up."

"Let her go!" Stefan pleaded. "Just let her go and I'll do whatever you want, you have my word!" He ended but the hybrid was having none of it. "Your word doesn't mean much. Now, I lived by your word all summer, during which I never had to resort to this." He leaned in a little more. "Stop fighting," he compelled.

"Don't do this, don't do this." Stefan pleaded.

"I don't want to do this," Klaus replied simply. "All I wanted was your allegiance, but now I'm gonna have to take it." He continued, ignoring his former friends pleas for him not to. "You will do whatever I say, when I say it. You will not run, you will not hide, you will simply just obey." He compelled again, then releasing the vampire from his grasp.

" _Now kill them, Ripper_."

 **MvM**

Klaus glanced at the woman who was still as she had been dropped as such in the entrance to the gymnasium. Walking over, he crouched slightly, lifting up Elle's motionless face. He could feel a pulse, albeit a weak one, whenever he placed a finger under her chin on one of her pulse points. It thumped against his fingers, and it brought a smirk to his face, or was that just the sounds of the screaming victims of his latest slave that were echoing around the gymnasium?

He didn't quite know, or either, he didn't quite care.

Deciding she would be fine to be left alone for a few more moments, he stood and walked back, crouching beside Elena who was watching the scene that unfolded before her in horror. "Always nice to see a vampire in their true element," he commented casually, a daring smirk upon his face. "The species has become such a broody lot."

"No," she replied through gritted teeth. "You did this to him." She added and he chuckled in her ear. "I invited him to the party, love; he's the one dancing on the table." He pointed out.

There was brief moment of silence before the gymnasium doors burst open with a loud crash. "Where is it?" Rebekah demanded as she walked in, a mobile phone clutched in her hands. "Where's my necklace?" She repeated, coming to a stop beside her brother who looked at her. "What are you talking about?" He asked back and she showed him the picture that was currently on the phone. "She has my necklace; look."

Klaus looked at it briefly for a moment before he looked back at the two others in the room. "Well, well," he stated unhappily. "More lies."

Rebekah looked at the doppelgänger. "Where is it?" She asked slowly through gritted teeth and Elena frowned. "I-" she began but the vampire rushed forward, sinking her teeth into her throat before her brother shoved her off of her. "Knock it off!" He roared.

"Make her tell me where it is Nik!" She yelled back and he sighed before looking back at Elena and crouching in front of her, the key to his success holding her neck to stop it bleeding. "Where's the necklace, sweetheart, and be honest." He reminded and Elena looked at him. "I'm telling the truth. Katherine stole it." She whimpered.

Klaus smirked slightly, although not in a light hearted fashion. "Katerina, of course." He sighed, standing. "Well, that's unfortunate," he announced. "If we had the necklace, it would make things a whole lot easier for your witch, but since we're doing this the hard way, lets put a clock on it, shall we?" He finished before walking over to the timer, kicking some of the plastic cups along the way.

A loud alarm sound echoed through the gymnasium and he walked back over. "Twenty minutes. If Bonnie hasn't found the solution by then, I want you to feed again, only this time I want you to feed on Elena."

The brunette recoiled in horror as the hybrid glanced down at her with a smirk. "You know you want to." He whispered tauntingly before striding away, only stopping once to stoop down and gather a limp Elle in his arms. "No one leaves; if she tries to run fracture her spine!"

 **MvM**

Setting the woman in his arms upon a workbench in the science lab, or one of them for that matter, Klaus walked back and took the test-tube of Elena's blood to the sweating, transitioning hybrid who was using the desk opposite to hold himself up. "Well the verdict is in." He stated, glancing at his younger sister. "According to the Original Witch, the doppelgänger should be dead."

Hope appeared on Rebekah's face. "Does that mean we can kill her?"

Klaus smirked. "No, I'm fairly certain it means the opposite." He replied as she pulled Caroline back, keeping her confined in the iron hold of her arms. He looked at Tyler, holding out the vial of blood. "Elena's blood, drink it." He stated.

Caroline shook her head. "No, no, no, no, Tyler don't." She exclaimed and Klaus smirked even wider. "If he doesn't feed, he'll die anyways, love, consider this an experiment. Drink it." He repeated, and hesitating for a moment, before he took it, Klaus watching his every move. "There we go," the hybrid said.

As soon as the blood passed into his body, Tyler began to writhe around on the floor, knocking over various beakers of test-tubes as he did so. Klaus crouched beside him, watching with apt fascination. And when the once werewolf, now hybrid, looked at him with golden eyes, the original hybrid smirked widely at his first success. "Now that's a good sign."

 **MvM**

Outside Mystic Falls hospital, both Klaus and Rebekah waited. "So," the female original began. "The doppelgänger isn't the problem, her blood is the solution." She concluded and her brother nodded, eyes on the raven haired woman who was curled up on the ground at his feet, not having moved once since her initial wakening. "Seems so."

Rebekah stared off ahead of her. "How did you know?" She asked softly and her brother walked forward until he was standing beside her. "Well, you know how much the Original Witch hated me. Do you honestly think I'd do anything other than opposite of what she says?" He asked pointedly. That caused her to smirk herself. "A thousand years in the grave and she's still screwing with you."

He hummed. "It makes sense about it if you look at it from her perspective." He stated before turning around to look at her. "It was her failsafe in case I ever broke the hybrid curse. The doppelgänger had to die in order for me to become a hybrid, but if she was dead, then-" Rebekah finished off for him as she glanced down at him. "Then you couldn't sire yourself a new species."

He nodded. "Leaving me alone for all time." He finished and she frowned. "Is that what this is about?" She asked, and he looked away guiltily. "Your obsession with hybrids? You just don't want to be alone?"

She watched as he gave away that she was right. "What I want," Klaus began, glancing down at Elle, her raven hair splayed around her head like an angels halo. "Is to take my girl, take my hybrid, and get the hell out of this one pony town." He turned back around and glanced at her. "You know, uh, why don't you get the truck? I'll get Elena, and Elle, of course."

 **MvM**

Damon Salvatore ambled up to the hybrid, Klaus giving a slight smirk as he sensed company. "Well, look who finally decided to show up to the party."

The vampire walked up to him with no intention of stopping. "Where is she?" He asked and Klaus turned to look at him. "Ah, Elena? She's making a donation to a greater cause." He jested before placing a hand against Damon's chest, stopping him from going any further. "Can't let you interfere, mate."

Damon glared at Klaus. "Then you'll have to kill me." He replied boldly before attempting to walk forward again, only for Klaus to shove him back once again. "Oh I would love to kill you but, uh, I made a pledge to your brother and unlike him I keep my word, although, thinking about it now, he probably doesn't care that much anymore." He stated before rushing forward and slamming the younger vampire against a nearby vehicle.

Just as Klaus was about to plunge his hand into Damon's chest, Damon gasped out a name he still feared now. " _Don't you want to know about your friend Mikael_?" He gasped out and Klaus froze. "What do you know about Mikael?"

Damon smirked slightly. "Just that he knows you're here." He sang and Klaus couldn't contain the fear on his face before he spoke again. "You're bluffing."

"Katherine and I found him." The Salvatore replied. "Consider it our leverage." He countered before Klaus let out a frustrated scream and threw him into a neighbouring vehicle, vanishing but stooping down to snatch up the unconscious raven haired woman before he did so altogether, leaving Damon startled.


End file.
